Favorite Places: Intro

Dear Friend,

What makes a place so memorable that you can't stop smiling or cringing when thinking about it?

From our personal experiences, we have two answers for you:

The People 
When we think of a place we have been, we often think of the relationships that were created, developed, or perhaps even broken apart while being there. This could evoke either positive or negative emotions, but other people always play a role in how you feel about a certain place. To help explain our thoughts on this, we thought of two scenarios regarding camping with friends.

Scenario #1: Camping with Friend A- Friend A absolutely loves the outdoors. Whether it's rain or shine, she can be found hiking, rock climbing, or kayaking. If you are camping with this hardcore and upbeat friend, you are bound to have a good time. Fallen tree blocking the pathway back to your tent? It's okay. Friend A will spend all afternoon scoping out an alternate route to home. Bugs? Don't worry. Friend A has five different types of bug repelling agents (including mouthwash for the ants). As you can see, your friend adores the outdoors so much that she has has the ability to look at any situation with a positive attitude. Sure, you may get lost or gain a few bug bites here and there, but hey- it's an adventure!

Scenario #2: Camping with Friend B- After your camping experience with this friend, you never want to return to the woods. Friend B is the type of person whose idea of camping is a three star hotel room a few miles away from the lake. Although you love your friend dearly, she is the worst camping partner ever. Fallen tree blocking the pathway back to your tent? You better start building an emergency shelter. Before you know it, it'll be dark and you might find yourself some raccoon friends. Bugs? Those creepy crawly creatures are all up to you, honey, because Friend B is too busy using up the one bottle of bug repellent you have. You better start praying that some deadly spider doesn't eat you alive. Let's face it- Friend B is not cut out for this type of adventure.

Although these two scenarios may seem pretty extreme, we hope we got the point across. People are a huge factor when deciding whether or not a place means a whole lot to you.

Individual Growth
A place's ability to help you grow as an individual can determine what makes a place special. Think of a place that you highly enjoy or despise. This could be anything from your family cabin, your school, or the park few blocks down from your house. If you look back on all the memories at these places, think about how each experience has contributed to who you are today. You know that the place is special when you realize you can't imagine life without it.

Hopefully you are starting to think of some of your favorite places. This was just a little introduction to a short series of posts beginning tomorrow. Over the next three days, we are going to describe some of our absolute favorite places in the world...so stay tuned!

How hard it is to escape from places. However carefully one goes they holy you- you leave little bits of yourself fluttering on the fences- like rags and shreds of your very life. 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine